Of Root Beer Floats

The other day one of the grandkids and I were discussing root beer floats and I learned that this young man had never had one.

How anyone could reach the ripe old age of six without ever having had a root beer float was inconceivable to me.

Well, since we had all the stuff necessary to making a root beer float, he decided that he was willing to try one.

After trying it, he decided he was a fan, he liked it.  And I felt like I had done my duty as a grandfather, to introduce this young man to one of life's finer treats.

The Reunion

They came from all over, from far and wide, across mountains, and plains, and sea.  From all over.  Over the years we have held what we have called family reunions but we're too spread out and attendance has never been what we had hoped for.  One of the first that we called a reunion was a gathering we had at Mount Rushmore, it was fun but not everyone was able to make it.  That was in 2016.  Our next effort was a couple of years later when we went to Door County in Wisconsin.  That was in 2018 and was a little better attended.  And it was a very good time.  We wanted to try again a couple of years later in connection with Stachelbeere getting married. After all, what brings families together better than weddings and funerals?  But that blessed event was held in Hawaii and a pandemic interfered; those two things kept attendance down.  In the end we didn't call it a reunion and just went with having it be a wedding, even though we did have several of the families present and we did make a week of it. It was as well attended as the first reunion in 2016, despite how close the pandemic came to preventing anyone from coming.

So anyway, we began talking and planning for this reunion two years before it was actually held.  We picked the specific date first.  I found out later there was a great conspiracy among  my children that resulted in the date of the reunion.  More on that later.  Then we set about picking the place.  There was a lot of discussion around where to have it, the consensus seemed to favor a camping reunion again.  Most of the kids enjoy camping and, in some ways, it seems easier.  But as we were narrowing down a specific place to camp, once again the kids got together and it was suggested that everybody gather at our house and camp in our backyard.  That, it was felt, would go a long way to helping get the most of our tribe together, since many of the family live within an easy drive of us anyway. And we were perfectly okay with anything that would boost attendance.  So it was decided to have it at our house.

Then there was some preparation that was needed. You can't have a camp out without a camp fire and one of the projects we've been wanting to do around the yard for a couple of years was to install a place to use the little portable fire ring we bought a couple of years ago.  We found that if we used it out in the grass the heat kills the grass under it so we wanted to put in some paving stones to have under it. Schwartzbeere to the rescue!  We picked the front corner of the garden space and with Schwartzbeere's help (a lot!) got the stones installed.

This was a project we worked on over several days, with the able help of a couple of the grandkids. 

Then, of course, we had an appropriate celebration. 

Then when it was all done and celebrated we tried it out and decided it was going to work very well.

Another project was something else we had been planning on doing anyway and decided that, with everybody coming and knowing there would be a lot of food passing through the house during the reunion, it was time to replace the freezer that had been failing for the last while anyway.  So we bought one and arranged to have it delivered just before the reunion.

That was an interesting operation. They arrived and did a bunch of measuring but decided it would fit if we took the doors off that it would have to pass through. Soon enough they had that done, the freezer in place, and the doors back on. We were glad we had opted to have it delivered and installed; doing that ourselves would have taken a lot longer and been a whole lot of work.  So the old one went out into the garage, where it still worked well enough to supplement our fridge and freezer space but would also be easy to move  right on out and have hauled off after the reunion.

The last bit of preparation was to put up a tent Brombeere had picked up at a yard sale a few weeks before the reunion. We had been talking to all the kids and making arrangements for sleeping space and, since there were some who were planning on bringing tents to put up in the backyard, Brombeere had picked up an extra tent but wanted to be sure it actually worked.  So, with lots of help from his kids, Schwartzbeere put it up and we decided it was all there and would work quite nicely.

Schwartzbeere and his kids were only too happy to see it up and decided that if it fit them it would certainly work for the Stachelbeeres, who were the ones who would be sleeping in it for the reunion. So, after the test run, the tent came back down to wait until its planned occupants arrived and put it back up.

The first to arrive was Stachelbeere and his wife, they flew in so while I was working my regular shift at the temple, Brombeere went to the airport and picked them up.  Then we hung around until a little later in the afternoon and met Moosbeere and his family at the temple; they had driven across the country to be there. They had arranged for their eldest to do baptism at the temple. So I went with them and did baptisms, Stachelbeere and his wife did sealings, and Brombeere watched Mossbeere's younger kids, who were too young to go in the temple.

They were quite delighted with the tiny frogs they found while waiting.

It wasn't really part of the reunion, but it was a wonderful way to spend some time with family. Temples are, after all, what it is all about. Then Moosebeere left to spend some time camping with the other side of their family and the rest of us headed for our home. It was still a few days before the official start of the reunion.

After picking up Stachelbeere at the airport and going through the temple, it was late when we got home. But the next day Stachelbeere put up the first tent out in the backyard. The tent city was beginning to take shape.

The next day Heidelbeere and her crew arrived. That was also the day Moosbeere and his gang arrived after their camping trip. 

And the next tent went up in the backyard.  This was our tent, that we've had had for several years.  Schwartzbeere and his kids were going to be staying in this tent.

A little later in the day Heidelbeere's tent also went up. The place was beginning to fill up up.

Yet a little later, Erdbeere and her family arrived and their tent went up, bringing the total to four tents in the backyard.  Everyone else was finding space in the house except Himbeere, they were staying in a nearby motel.  Too much craziness, I guess.

The kids, many of whom had never met before, all got along very well.

This was not the official first day of the reunion, this was the "arrival day". And it was so nice to have everyone there. Lots of gabbing, visiting, playing, and relaxing went on that day. Lots of helping each other get settled and situated, and everyone found their place and made their arrangements that would carry us all through the next three day of celebrating our wonderful family. Everybody had done a lot of planning and work to be ready for this time and it was off to a great start.

It wouldn't be a proper campout for our family if there wasn't a little bit of rain.  The weather decided to get it over with right up front so that night we got rain.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just a sprinkle; it rained hard for a while. Everybody except Schwartzbeere retreated to the house and found space on floors, couches, and wherever else they could for this first night. We made room and it worked, everyone hoped that the next few days would be drier.  And they were. Schwartzbeere reported the next morning that the only time they got water in the tent was when he opened the door to make a quick dash into the house at one point during the night. If it hadn't been for that he would have stayed dry all night. That gave the rest of the campers hope. It worked out well.

The  next day, the official first day of the reunion, the plan was to head for a park.  It was close enough so that those that brought their bikes could ride to the park, everybody else would drive. We also took our kayaks.  The plan was to be there a few hours.

After the park and lunch, several families had brought stuff for crafts. So stuff was set up both inside and outside the house and everyone that wanted to could rotate between crafts as they wanted.

It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of creativity.  Everyone had a good time.

After the crafts we got a fire going.

The crafting had actually been paused for dinner so by the time the fire was going everyone had eaten.  Those that wanted to, which included most of the kids and many of the adults, roasted marshmallows and made 'smores.  Many of the kids actually thought burning the marshmallows was the best way.  Those with  more discriminating palates did the slow roast thing and there were many very well done, marshmallows done to perfection.  It was good. It was relaxing. It was the perfect end to a very fun day.

The next morning brought a totally unexpected surprise, and herein was the conspiracy.  My children had all gotten together and found someone to help them announce to the neighborhood that I was having a "milestone" birthday.  And, since I have a birthday buddy, they surprised us both.

The last day of the reunion  began, after the birthday surprise, with a visit to a planetarium where we had scheduled a private showing for just our family, of a show about the ongoing effort to get back to the moon. Those that wanted to went, and that was nearly everyone, and we had an interesting, restful time learning about all that's going into getting back to the moon.  There's far more going on in that effort than I had realized, and I have been watching and following it pretty close; I have managed to tune into several of the rocket launches as they have moved forward with the Artemis program.

After that the plan was to head to a local park for a photography session and dinner. We had rented a lodge at the park. We had known going in that we were not going to everyone in the whole family for the photographs but we went with as many as we could and it turned out very well, as good as it could have under the circumstances.  I think everyone was a little surprised by how long it took but it went well, the kids pretty much all made it through and we should end up with some nice photos.

Then it was time for the dinner and birthday party. 

There were presents and cake; we both worked on getting the candles blown out: it was successful. It was a very good time.  If I have to get older it was an excellent way to enter the next decade.  I think my birthday buddy had been looking forward to this more than I was and she was delighted with it.

One of the more popular crafts that was done was painting rocks.  Edrbeere is an excellent artist and has been painting rocks for quite some time. She lead that craft and kids kept coming back to it, even after the reunion had officially ended. Part of the plan of the reunion had been to paint a bunch of rocks and then go add them to a "snake" that has been growing here in the community; the person that started it painted a rock to look like a snake's head and then other bring their painted rocks and line them up behind it, forming a snake. We had hoped to go out as a group and add to the snake but time just ran out.  Erdbeere went and added a rock to it before she left town. A few days later we went with Schwartzbeere and his kids and took a few more rocks out and added them.  There ended up being five rocks between the rock Erdbeere left and the ones Schwartzbeere left. It was fun.

Technically, the day of the photos and birthday party was the last official day of the reunion.  But Erdbeere and her family stayed a couple of days beyond that.  Heidelbeere and her husband let us watch their kids while they took a little time off and went camping and kayaking in the Apostle Islands National Lakeahore. And Stachelbeere and his wife borrowed our car and went down to Nauvoo and then stopped to see Erdbeere on their way back. Gradually, over the next few days and week, everyone trickled away back to real life and the house got quiet again.  

All the tents are gone ...

... and the lawn has recovered from where the tents were.  Two of them left good burns in the grass but they have both pretty much recovered.  Nothing left but happy memories.  I would have to call this reunion the most successful one we have ever had.  

One thing I noticed pretty quick as the kids and their families began arriving was everyone's interested in a digital picture frame we keep in our living room. Moosbeere's family gave us one several years ago and I decided I liked it.  I eventually replaced it with one with a better display and I keep pictures of all our kids and their spouses, and the grandkids on it. 

There's over 400 photos on it right now, it would take 10 or 15 minutes to watch it all the way through.  I keep photos from the last two years on it, lots of happy memories. It has always fascinated Schwartzbeere's kids and has provided us the opportunity to talk to them about family and the family they have on their Dad's side of their family, most of whom they don't see very often.  In the weeks leading up to the reunion we talked to the kids about the fact that they would soon get to meet all the people they saw on display there. Several times I saw kids and grandkids stop and watch the photos display, some staying longer than others. I liked that.

Not only was it nice to have all the kids and grandkids here and enjoying themselves, but I also found myself several times thinking back to the several reunions we had when I was a kid. There were ten kids in my Dad's family, I was one of the older grandkids.  They would have a big reunion every few years in the summer where everyone would try to come; those were big crowds.  The thing they had in common with this reunion was they were always held at my grandparents' home. They had a lot of the same elements, camping out in the yard, lots of people, lots of food, lots of talking among the grown ups and playing among the kids.  One year there was a talent show that each family contributed to. They were a lot of fun.  I got to know several of my cousins that were about my age pretty well. I kept thinking now I was on the other side; then I was a grandkid, now I was the grandpa.  I had wanted that for my own kids as they were growing  up but since we moved so far away that didn't really happen.  I remember those reunions as good times, I hope my kids and grandkids will look back on our get-togethers as happily as I do.  Family is a good thing.